Risk of terrorist attack on US soil alarming, experts say

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The threat of a major terrorist event on US soil is reaching a dangerously high level, with major cities like New York and Washington DC most vulnerable to an attack, terrorism experts warn.

It's been almost 23 years since nearly 3,000 people died on 9/11, but even though surveillance and security at airports have been increased, the world has changed significantly since then.

Technology has become cheaper and more advanced, the internet is lightning-fast, and the open borders of the Americas mean that millions of uncontrolled people from around the world now live among the general population and continue to flood in at record rates.

FBI DIRECTOR WARNS OF DJIHADIST ATTACK IN US, SIMILAR TO RUSSIAN CONCERT HALL: “INCREASED TERRORIST THREAT”

Smoke billows from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners in a September 11, 2001, terrorist attack in New York. Experts warn that the threat of a major terrorist attack is very high. (Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

“We are in a period where a number of factors are combining to make a terrorist attack on the country much more likely than perhaps it was,” says Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD detective who worked in the fight against terrorism for almost 15 years.

Mauro said the risk of a potential new attack should be assessed in a criminal context that has the means, motive and opportunity to successfully execute a murderous plot.

“The world has become a lot smaller since 9/11. You have drones, the interconnectivity of the internet is more pervasive in areas that maybe didn't have that connectivity. You can get an uplink using something thing like an Elon Musk satellite You can connect from the Hindu Kush mountains, you have AI capabilities, you've had all this time to develop capabilities since 9/11 if you're still in the. world. [terror] business.”

Mauro said the threats would likely emanate from current hot spots around the world, including the Middle East, where Iran poses a real threat and still seeks revenge for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general who was eliminated in a 2020 US drone attack.

Those angered by Israel's response to the October 7 attacks in Gaza also pose a real threat, as does a “nuclear-capable” Russia fighting a US-funded regime in Ukraine. declared Mauro.

“We are in a period where a number of factors are combining to make a terrorist attack on the country far more likely than it may have been.”

Paul Mauro, retired NYPD detective

“It's not hard to see motivations everywhere, motivations that pre-existed 9/11 and continue and have only been exacerbated,” he said.

Mauro said the opportunity for terrorists was on the southern border.

Migrants cross the northern border. (Customs and Border Protection)

“We let 10 to 20 million illegal immigrants into the country with little or no control. It's ridiculous to think they're all coming from small towns in Mexico or Bolivia or Ecuador or something. “, says Mauro.

“We're currently seeing a wave of migrant-related crime, but you'd have to be an idiot not to take advantage of the ability to seamlessly and frictionlessly bring assets into the U.S. country across the southern border if you're sitting where is Iran, where is China, where is Russia.

FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY CITES INCREASED FOREIGN THREATS IN FISA REAUTHORIZATION PLEA: ROGUES GALLERY'

FBI Director Christopher Wray warned of increased terrorist threats on U.S. soil during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on June 4, 2024. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Mauro said the eight Tajik nationals with links to ISIS who were recently arrested after allegedly crossing the southern border illegally were “a huge wake-up call” and that millions of people were crossing the border unchecked into the post-September 11 world. “simply completely incomprehensible.”

Former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morrell also spoke out in a recent Foreign Affairs op-ed, writing that the terrorist threat posed by vulnerabilities at the U.S.-Mexico border is “flashing red.” .

FBI Director Christopher Wray and US Central Command (CENTCOM) General Michael Kurilla said there are serious threats posed by terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, also known as Islamic State and Islamic State of Khorasan (ISIS-K), the affiliate of ISIS that operates in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Forces under Kurilla command have battled ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria, killing or capturing nearly 1,000 terrorist fighters last year in nearly 500 ground operations and 45 airstrikes, according to the Affairs foreign.

Kurilla, during his March 2023 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, drew particular attention to ISIS-K and warned that the group would be able to carry out an operation against U.S. or Western interests abroad by less than six months with little or no warning. In January, two ISIS-K suicide bombers killed nearly 100 people and injured scores more during a ceremony in Iran to commemorate Soleimani's death, while in March the group killed 145 people and injured 550 in a terrorist attack at a Moscow concert hall.

THREAT OF ATTACK ON IRAN PROMPTS US GENERAL VISIT TO ISRAEL AND REVIEW OF MILITARY CAPABILITIES

Crocus City Hall, west of Moscow, Russia, during the March 22 terrorist attack. FBI Director Christopher Wray said there is growing concern about a similar attack on U.S. soil. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

Wray, meanwhile, told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee earlier this month that there is growing concern about a similar attack at the Moscow concert hall and that threats from foreign terrorists have reached another level.

“Just in my time as FBI director, we have disrupted multiple terrorist attacks and disrupted cities and communities across the country,” Wray said, while pushing the department's request for $11.3 billion for the FY25, which is $661 million more than last year.

Wray went on to say that the FBI saw a “rogue gallery” of foreign terrorist organizations calling for attacks against the United States and its allies.

“Given these calls for action, our most immediate concern has been that individuals or small groups may be inspired by events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home,” Wray said. “But now, on top of that, there is growing concern about the potential for a coordinated attack here in the country, much like the ISIS-K attack we saw in the Russian concert hall last March. “

Attorney General Merrick Garland also sounded the alarm earlier this month about potential terrorist threats, warning before the House Judiciary Committee that the threat level “has increased enormously” since October 7.

EX-CIA DEPUTY DIRECTOR SOUNDS ALARM ON TERRORIST THREAT POSED BY OPEN BORDER

A group of more than 100 migrants broke through a fence on March 21, 2024. Experts say the terrorist threat posed by vulnerabilities at the U.S.-Mexico border is alarming. (James Breeden for the New York Post/Mega)

Mauro said New York and Washington, D.C. remain the two main areas where terrorists are likely to strike, with several other densely populated cities also on the list.

As for what type of terrorist attack we might see, it's anyone's guess, Mauro said.

“The holy grail, I'll tell you, and I'm not giving anything up because it's a biochemical event for the deployment of these weapons. You get the highest number of potential loss of life. You get a contamination in a closed environment … and it is achievable, whereas in the dirty bomb scenario that we often hear about, there are scientific and technical obstacles to overcome that make this difficult,” says Mauro.

“The Holy Grail, I'll tell you, and I'm not giving anything up because this is a biochemical event for the deployment of these weapons.”

Paul Mauro, retired NYPD detective

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“Whatever real atomic bomb you might get. Let's say Hezbollah buys it on the black market from a former KGB officer or something, sails it into a port and detonates it, that's always been the nightmare scenario.”

“But what hits with greater weight are the kinds of attempts we've seen all over the world employing biochemical agents and [it] It’s truly a nightmare scenario. I mean, look at the damage caused by COVID. »

“So if you manage to trigger this kind of thing in an enclosed space, in a station, on a train, etc., you have a very, very serious event. And that's one of the things that the kind of terrorism people that I worried about all the time and worked to prevent.”

Commuters wait on the platform as a Metro-North train arrives in Bridgeport, Connecticut (AP FILE/Craig Ruttle)

Fox News Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

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